The Black Lives Matter movement has been away for black people to bring light to racial issues, honor black lives, and have a voice. For years black lives have been taken, discriminated against, and have been systematically oppressed. Therefore, the community needed something to decentralize political and social movements that protested against police brutality incidents and racial violence. As there is no answer and no quick fix for an issue like this, The Black Lives Matter movement has provided the black community with a path to create change, come together, and overcome racism. To learn, listen, and talk more, educate one another, and most importantly, take action by Contributing to society and showing strength and resilience to black oppression, and working towards combating and going against acts of violence. To receive long-term goals, like creating a safe space for black people to develop and innovate their lives, gain the power to be oneself, and speak on actions inflicted on the black community. And for the black people to receive some of these goals, they had to do a movement like civil rights to intervene in the idea and the world of people of color intentionally and systematically targeted.  Go against racial discrimination against black people and the expectation of normality define by white supremacy. Efforts have come about to end racism, but it hasn’t been enough. As they’re still unjust treatment towards people of color, the community and its supporters have kept it together. They have made great strides in advocating equality and black pride all over the united states.

Black Lives matter was founded in 2013 to eliminate white supremacy and establish local power and intervene in violence against black communities showcased by states and vigilant. It all started with the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012. He was an African American from Miami Gardens who got shot by George Zimmerman, a watchman for the neighborhood. While Trayvon was going to a grocery store, Zimmerman reported “a suspicious person” and “He is instructed not to get out of his SUV or approach the person.” (CNN). Zimmerman did not listen and ended up shooting Martin, claiming self-defense and not getting charged. On the day of The hearing, Zimmerman was found not guilty. To show support to Martin’s family, Garza and her friends Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi said ‘”Our lives matter,” to then created #BlackLivesMatter. It became a “movement, a slogan, a rallying cry” (NCB). Black lives matter was created to stand for black lives and their experience in their everyday lives. Through the movement, people got to showcase policy brutality and shift the conversation about the act of police brutality. The actions are taken to protect the lives of people of color. To continue to propel the conversation of violence and oppression blacks experience. In 2014 when Mike Brown was murder by a Ferguson police officer, the movement gathers over 600 people to support brother and sister from a plan created in 15 days. To everyone, it became clear that the community needed to continue “organizing and building Black power across the country” (BLM). Not only to provide a voice but to provide a support system where black people can feel empowered to take action to determine their destiny and future, how they want to be treated, and receive respect. However, this movement is nothing new; it’s just a new name for the action. People of color have been experiencing discrimination and violence against them since human existence, from slavery to gaining some power to speak out on racial segregation, which set people of color apart from white people, Labeling and identifying blacks as inferiors. Blacks were humiliated and abused. The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice during the mid-50s and 60s. it was set up to put black progressiveness as a conversation of a nation that succeeded in minimizing and revoking the rights of blacks. “Racial segregation, which set Black people apart from the rest of humanity and labeled them as inferiors, was the linchpin of this society” (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN). They protested against and came together to adopt equal rights under the law in the United States. They made progress like unsegregated schools, the civil rights act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination in public spaces, etc.—and doing it in a nonviolent way. “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored.” (MLK). Back to modern racism and the BLM, which started as a call to action in reaction to police brutality and anti-Black racism in the United States, has grown into a global movement to address racial inequities in society, including environmental inequality, bias in race, and the threat of racism towards the black community. Hundreds of thousands of people have protested George Floyd’s death worldwide.

People of color getting killed is nothing new, but it’s something that the community tries to prevent by speaking up about these issues. The protest was sparked in 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. George Floyd was killed by a police officer, Derek Chauvin, when we were kneeling in his neck and disregarded Floyd repeating, “I can’t breathe.” After this video surfaced, many worldwide came together to protest for his life and demand justice since the office still hasn’t received a trial. Residents from Minneapolis marched 2.5 miles to the police precinct leading to all the police officers involved in Floyd’s death getting fired. Thousands of people worldwide were protesting for his death, which was significant because it expressed their issues and experiences of discrimination and racism. The BLM organized protests around the world not to deal with the past but to receive justice and ensure that “today we’re going to make sure that won’t be an alien thought to our young ones” (COSMOPOLITAN). The community does all this for the sake of future generations, for they would have to go outs and be scared whether they wouldn’t make it home that night. To make sure that black mothers and fathers can stop having a conversation with their kids about why they get treated so poorly and what to do if a police officer stops you from making sure you get out of their life. And it’s not only in the United States; countries like Liberia and Nigeria joined the protesting. However, a recent protest was not only about police brutality. It also influenced the 2020 election to ensure the president of this country is aware of the black community’s problems and progressiveness. “We’ve never been just about ending police violence, but about disrupting state-sanctioned violence against Black people.” The police killed twice as many black people compared to white people. Black people are more likely to be stripped away from their rights by law enforcement, and according to studies, “it’s not by accident but by design.” Due to the brutality and violence that people use on people of color, the community has become more demanding of change in the law department. The premises system needs to train police officers on treating people regardless of skin tone or race. To make sure police officers keep the community safe, not hurt it because of their views on a specific race. Which urges the question of all lives matter?

Many people during the BLM movement started projecting the phrase “all lives matter” to diminish the purpose of the words “black lives matter.” Many people do it without that intention, but others disagree with the movement. It’s not only a sign of ignorance but disrespect as well. The phrase “all lives matter” tries to argue all lives are equal because we are human beings. But as we have seen for years, all human beings are not equal. When people say black lives matter, they imply that black lives are not being protected, are not given the same opportunities, are not praised and honored. The phrase is saying black lives matters’ too’. It’s a call for protection and recognition, so when saying “all lives matter,” it can come off as a racist dog whistle meaning “a direct push-back against the Black Lives Matter movement. It is far from an innocent term celebrating the worth of all humanity” (THE COVERSATION). Think of it as the same people that stated the idea of “all of us are created equal” were slave owners themselves” (CLEVELAND). It is also a form of degrading this specific purpose because it’s talking about black lives. ‘”Have you ever seen someone counter a “breast cancer” post with “what about colon cancer?” But for some reason, if someone says “Black lives matter,” it turns into all-inclusive “all lives matter”  ‘(CLEVELAND). Did the life of Trayvon Martin matter when he was killed, and Zimmerman was acquitted, did all lives matter when George Floyd had a police officer kneeled on his neck for over 8 minutes after, or when a police officer killed Breonna Taylor during a botched raid on her apartment? How about Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, who was also black people killed by police brutality. Did it matter then? Phrases like that diminish racial change in this country. For over 400 years, black lives were used to build American culture, economy and protect its interest. But we’re regarded as animals. “The chronicle of slavery, Lynching, segregation, and discrimination the, is undeniable. So, to the asset that black lives matter is to powerfully posit that all lives matter cannot matter until black, brown, and indigenous lives matter.” How can we say that all lives matter when only the life of whites is being protected when they get arrested differently when they don’t get racially profile when black lives are the ones that are being taken the most and have been treated unjustly for years. When black people fear for their lives and no longer feel safe walking the street, the vulnerability of black people in public space is not considered, and the police force being used. How can people say all lives matter? When one is a walking target when skin tones define your future and define the education and morals of the future generation. And the truth is, it’s not enough to say black lives matter without saying why it matters.

As many people recognized that the Black Lives Matter movement started off to fight negative actions towards a specific group, the movement brought change and led to positive impacts worldwide. New York has vowed to cut the NYPD budget and send it to other programs requiring more funding. Mayor de Blasio said, “We’re committed to seeing a shift of funding to youth services, to social services.” Los Angeles has also cut the police budget and placed it into health care, jobs, and “healing” programs for the black community. Denver requires officers “to alert supervisors any time they point a gun at someone” (WOMENSHEALTHMAG). Many more cities have also taken action due to the protest. Not to mention the protests have also led to progress in the George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery cases, plus a new commitment to justice around police brutality. The protest increased Derek Chauvins murder charge; he “has since been charged with second-degree murder – raised from an initial charge of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter” (COSMOPOLITAN), reopened Breonna Taylor’s case, reinvested $100 million into communities of color in LA, all in one week. On top of these change actions, the movement has decreased police homicides in most cities where the protests occurred due to the movement being spread to hundreds of cities across the united states. “BLM protests have been held experienced as much as a 20 percent decrease in killings by police, resulting in an estimated 300 fewer deaths nationwide in 2014–2019” (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN). Showcases the power of nonviolent protest, people coming together, voicing their concern, and the issues that have been going on. To be more powerful than the police and that we as people can change our communities and create a new and safer environment for everyone, with equal opportunities and justice.

What started as a call to action in reaction to police brutality and anti-Black racism in the United States has grown into a global movement to address racial inequities in society, including environmental inequality, bias in race, and the threat of racism towards the black community. Hundreds of thousands of people have protested for black lives lost due to police brutality worldwide. The discrimination that black people often experience, being viewed as a threat to society, affects the present and future generations. The BLM movement is helping solve brutality, and the injustice black people face. By acknowledging the police violence and racism existence in the world. Educating people and assisting others in understanding and admitting that there’s a problem with how the black community is treated. To understand who struggles for justice and still haven’t gained enough accomplishments. To prove that all lives matter because everyone was created to be free and equal, rights protected by the law. “Every black person is a child of the universe, no less than the trees in the stars” as MLK noted in his “I have a dream” speech.

To learn, listen, and talk more, educate one another, and most importantly, take action by Contributing to society and showing strength and resilience to black oppression, and working towards combating and going against acts of violence.